Johnson & Johnson and Actelion have asked Switzerland’s takeover board about the viability of a complicated takeover deal the U.S. healthcare company is discussing with the Swiss biotech firm, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported on Friday, without saying how it got the information.
The two companies asked about the proposal under which Johnson & Johnson would acquire Actelion while separating its commercialized portfolio from its research and development assets, a deal structure first reported by Reuters last week.
The panel’s preliminary review was still going on, the paper said.
The Tages-Anzeiger quotes a spokesman for the takeover board as saying it does not comment on specific transactions. The Swiss takeover board, which determines whether a deal meets legal requirements, did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment.
An Actelion spokesman also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The proposed deal structure would allow J&J to acquire Actelion with a cash offer in the region of $260 per share, a little more than what it had offered when it walked away from negotiations earlier in December.
It also would allow Actelion shareholders to benefit financially from Actelion’s R&D pipeline, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
In return for a minority stake in the remaining business to develop new drugs, Johnson & Johnson could invest $1 billion to $2 billion over several years into Actelion’s research activities as part of the deal, the Tages-Anzeiger reported, again without saying where the information came from.
By Joshua Franklin
Source: Reuters
Airnov provides critical healthcare industries with high-quality, controlled atmosphere packaging, to protect their products from moisture and oxygen. The business has manufacturing facilities in the USA, France, China and India and employs around 700 people.
Takeda of Japan has partnered with Hong Kong-based Hutchmed, gaining the commercial rights to colorectal cancer drug fruquintinib outside of China for $400 million up front, plus $730 million in potential milestone payments. Takeda also will help develop fruquintinib, which can be applied to subtypes of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, regardless of biomarker status, the companies said.
On April 3, Scangos, who’s been chief executive officer at Vir since the start of 2017, will hand over the reins to Marianne De Backer, Ph.D. De Backer comes over from Bayer, where she currently heads up pharmaceutical strategy, business development and licensing. Alongside her CEO appointment, De Backer is set to join Vir’s board of directors, the company said Wednesday.